Ronald Feldman Fine Arts is pleased to present Christine Hill’s
latest work in a solo exhibition entitled Small Business opening N
ovember 10\, 2012. Small Business will be the state-side branch of
Hill’s storefront workspace in Berlin and the latest iteration of her long
-running proprietorship of Volksboutique\, the production label Hi
ll founded there in 1996.

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The day-to-day activity of H
ill’s entrepreneurial exchanges is represented by her Small Business Mo
del (2012)\, a scaled-up Kaufladen\, or model store\
, is based on the popular German children’s toy of the same name bearing si
milarity to American role-playing toys such as KidKraft Play Kitchens™. Small Business Model takes Hill's ongoing study of the structure\, et
hics\, and behaviors of small business enterprise as its focus. A custom in
ventory arranged along built-in shelves is labeled with detailed taxonomies
and assigned meanings and priority. The labels and arrangement of these sh
op goods forms a three-dimensional glossary of business practice. “I think
about the divisions like phrenological mapping…how thoughts and priorities
are structured. I love that an inventory structure can shift and evolve and
that contemporary concerns can be treated like wares on display and as a s
upply for a certain demand. People can peruse the items for elements they r
ecognize in their own lives\,” says Hill. A shop counter complete with cash
register and package shipping scale delineates the wall between audience a
nd shopkeeper. Visitors are invited to enter Small Business Model\
, “play” the role of the shop-keeper\, pose as the Proprietor for snapshots
and test out how they might keep shop.

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Small Busi
ness Model is accompanied by a collection of shop-related sample board
s\, advertisements\, and paraphernalia carefully labeled and displayed. The
se objects are situated not only as elements of exchange and value but also
as visual representations of commerce\, a force in our day-to-day lives.
p>\n

Hill has examined intersections between small business
and art throughout her 20-year career. Previous projects include the origin
al Volksboutique\, a second hand clothing shop sited in Berlin-Mit
te for one year and subsequently featured at documenta X in 1997\; Tour
guide?\, a walking tour agency of SoHo NYC\, produced by The Public Ar
t Fund in 1999\; and Minutes\, a suite of five steamer trunk time
capsules filled with paraphernalia of office roles of (Management\, Recepti
on\, PR\, Accounting and Production) exhibited Venice Biennale\, 2007. For
her solo booth hosted by Feldman Gallery at the Armory Show in New York in
2009\, Hill created the Volksboutique Armory Apothecary\, the firs
t state-side iteration of her Berlin-based shop complete with intimate cons
ultations and metaphorical remedies prescribed by the artist for visitors.<
/p>\n

Hill was appointed Professor and Chair
of Media\, Trend &amp\; Public Appearance at the Bauhaus University in Wei
mar in 2004. She opened the VolksboutiqueSmall Business
shop at the current location on Choriner Strasse 51 in Berlin's Prenzlauer
Berg in October 2010.